Up Against The Wall
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: Prequel to Vulnerable. Why exactly is Don so concerned about some guy flirting with Stella, and what is he going to do about it? It's best to read this as well as Vulnerable for it to make complete sense.


Note From The Author-- By popular demand, here we have the prequel to Vulnerable. It was just too good to resist, so I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters of NY, and the title is an NSYNC song. Mock me for my nerdiness at your will.

"The guy's a complete bastard Stell."

Stella pushed through the doors of the lab with a great deal more force than was strictly necessary. "And you know this how?" she questioned.

Flack jabbed at the button at the elevator then turned back to her. "I'm a man, I can tell."

"What?" she asked incredulously. "You have a penis so it gives you some sort of psychic connection?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he answered derisively.

When they stepped through the open doors into the elevator she hit the button for their floor so hard that the walls shook. Stella crossed her arms and turned to stare Flack down. "I'm the one who's being ridiculous?Let's talk about your whole Miss Cleo, man-wave psychic thing. You don't know a damn thing about him; he's a perfectly nice guy and you, for some reason I can't fathom, are being completely overprotective! I lived without a father for a lot of years, Don; I don't need one now."

He shook his head. "I'm not trying to be your father here Stell. Cops talk, and some of my guys hang out with firefighters. This guy sniffing around you is a complete dog."

"I don't need you to take care of me, Don. I'm a big girl." The doors opened, by Stella's estimation, just in time, and she walked out without saying another word to him.

"You're seriously going to ignore me on this?" Flack pressed, catching up with her.

She whirled around with her eyes flashing. "That's precisely what I'm going to do because you're being an ass!"

Don's anger matched hers as he stepped closer. "I'm trying to keep you from making a mistake," he told her.

"And who, pray tell, gave you that job; because I sure as hell don't remember doing it."

Danny, Adam, and Lindsay rounded the corner then, coming to an abrupt halt when they found their friends in a stand off. "Guys, we could hear you from across the lab," Lindsay told them.

Neither paid any attention to the comment, they just kept right on. "Somebody has to do it," Flack commented, his voice dangerously low.

"Don Flack if you're implying that I can't take care of myself, so help me God I will hurt you," Stella responded. Then it occurred to her. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

She stepped even closer to him, invading his personal space until there was barely an inch between them. "I think this is about something else entirely."

"Please, like what?" he questioned.

There was a crowd around them now, and they all watched as Stella went for the jugular. "I think you're pissed that this guy wants me because you want the same damn thing and you don't have the courage to do anything about it." The last comment was barely above a whisper, but the point hit home.

Emotions raced through Don's eyes so fast she could barely register them. When he finally spoke it was with a deadly calm. "You're wrong."

"Am I? she asked him as she turned to walk away. "Keep telling yourself that."

It happened so quickly that she lost her breath. One moment she was walking away and the next Flack had taken hold of her arm and spun her around. Before she could say anything his mouth was on hers and seconds later they were backing up. Stella barely registered the sharp pain she felt when her back slammed into the wall, and moments later she forgot it entirely.

Both of them completely forgot where they were; it didn't matter. Stella urged him closer with the hand she had fisted in his jacket and she opened to him, deepening the kiss. She shivered when his hands brushed down up her sides from where they had been wrapped around her arms to tangle in her hair, pressing her even closer. Every rational part of their brains seemed to have fled the minute they found each other, and it was only when Mac calling their names managed to penetrate the haze of lust they were swimming in that they pulled apart.

Mac was torn between dueling desires to get pissed and to laugh. When Stella and Don sprang apart like guilty teenagers he decided humor was going to win. He managed to keep the laugh from escaping but couldn't stop the smile. "Think you two could take the floor show elsewhere so I can have my team back?"

Both of them nodded a bit sheepishly just before Stella turned and headed for her office. Flack didn't see much choice but to follow her and when he saw her tug her shirt down over the raw looking scrape the wall had left on her back he felt his heart clench. Then they made it into her office and when she turned to face him he saw the bruises that were already starting to form on her arms and felt the tightness get about six times worse.

"Shit."

"Not exactly the words I was expecting to hear," she commented, one eyebrow raising in surprise.

He shook his head. "That was a mistake," he told her, meeting her eyes hesitantly.

Stella's eyes narrowed. "Felt pretty damn deliberate to me."

"You know what I mean," he sighed, standing back from her.

"I was pretty sure I knew what all that meant a minute ago but evidently I was wrong. Care to enlighten me?"

It threw him how calm she was; that on top of the guilt that washed over him whenever he saw the marks on her arms had him completely off balance. Fight or flight kicked in, and he was halfway out the door when he spoke to her again. "Just forget it ever happened Stella."

When he was gone, Stella took the time to think about it. There was clearly something up with him. No way in hell would he have just walked away from her under normal circumstances. When the shift was over she was going to figure it out.

Sitting at his desk and kicking himself, Flack had already figured out exactly what his problem was; and he decided that the only way he was going to get any relief was to get drunker than he'd been since he was in his early twenties and try to forget it had all happen. Then he thought back and shook his head.

Yeah, that would happen.


End file.
